Hair Bitting...Help!!
Our family has a wonderful OES named Charlie, who is about 10 months. We got him in July, and has been a great joy to everyone in the house. He is the best dog that I've ever owned and was so easy to train and he listens great. There is one problem though...everytime I come home from work, it seems he is missing more and more hair. He keeps bitting the hair off his legs and around his sides and around his butt area. I don't know what to do...I've tried everything. I called my vet and asked for suggestions and they told me to give him more exercise, which I do every day. Well that didn't seem to work, so I went out and got some of that bitter spray to stop them from bitting their hair...well that didnt work either..he just licked it up as soon as I sprayed it on him. Well I decided to take him back to the vet to see if there was something else wrong...like allergies or something. They could not find anything wrong and they said he had no allergies or fleas or anything like that. I have no idea what to do now. He was getting so nice and fluffy, and now he looks really bad. I don't know if I should take him to the groomers and get him shaved and start all over again or what I should do!! So anyways....I could use some advice or any suggestions would be nice...thanks for taking the time to read!! Charlie's Mom |
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| It could be he is chewing his hair out of anxiety. I am not sure how you would curb that other than to give him something really fabulous, like a Kong, when you leave and only give it to him when you leave. Take it up as soon as you get home. This way he associates your leaving with something good and won't be as anxious. |
I remember Willowsprite having this trouble with one her dogs that she showed, but I can't remember which one or what she did to correct it. I'll see if I can find the threads.  |
Quote: they said he had no allergies
So he's not scratching or chewing when you're home? This picture shows areas often associated with allergies- http://marvistavet.com/assets/images/atopy1.gif Maybe it's obsessive/compulsive behavior brought about by anxiety or boredom? It doesn't sound like the separation anxiety we experienced with Panda but there are varying degrees of many conditions. SA dogs tend to potty in the house, drool, bark, get destructive, etc. http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pa ... ontleaveme If you can't figure it out on your own, you might consider contacting an animal behaviorist to see if allergies have been completely eliminated as a cause. Personally, I'd keep him in a puppycut until the behavior problem has been figured out and the hair is all even again. But I know it's hard to give a sheepie in full coat a haircut. Please keep us posted on how he's doing. |
| My male starts chewing his coat if it gets longer than 4 inches.
It's like the hair starts to annoy him when it's that long. So when he gets that long, he gets a haircut. He is actually at 4 inches now and started chewing a few weeks ago. So he's about ready for another cut. He will not chew if the hair is shorter. |
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